The ideas Page: agnipath revision must be judged by what it does to institution it was meant to reform 9 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2026 JOurnalism of COurage AhmeDAbAD, lAte City, 26 PAges ₹6.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA i ly f R o m : A h m e DA b A D , C h A n D i gA R h , D e l h i , J A i P U R , Ko l K AtA , l U C K n o W , m U m b A i , n Ag P U R , PAt n A , P U n e , vA D o DA R A Delhi sees worst pre-Diwali air in Parent income 8 years, GRAP-III imposed in NCR claims by ciVil serVices caNdidates not sole factor: Sc on creamy layer in OBc Bench reaffirms March ruling, says shall not affect seniority of any person or entail re-opening of selections already made contribution of transport emissions to Pm2.5 load Path clear for ’25 batch, about 100 candidates whose OBC certificates were rejected since ’16 Surat diamond polisher ‘missing’ in Russia, shyamlal yadav New Delhi, November 6 IF THE Central government followsFriday’sSupremeCourt ruling, it could pave the way for service allocation and training and induction of the 2025 batch of 958 candidates selected in theCivilServicesExamination (CSE) and of 148 candidates selected in the Indian Forest Service Examination. The decision could also enablenearly100oBCcandidates to enter various civil services in accordance with their merit in the respective examinations. happening today Their caste certificates had been rejected over the years since 2016 on the ground that they belonged to the creamy layer, resulting in the rejection of their CSE selections. A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan said there was “no convincing or reasonable justification” for deferring the implementation of its March 11 judgment. While the court had originally given the Centre six months to implement the verdict retrospectively, the government approacheditonAugust24,citing By EP UNNY lNew ZealaNd is set for one of its closest polls in history after a campaign dominated by high cost of living and an economy hit by the war in West Asia. lVice PresideNt C P Radhak- rishnan will visit Ayodhya for the Deepotsav, which will showcase the city’s history and the Ram temple movement. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com »cONtiNUed ON PaGe 2 was working with the army, says family Kamal saiyed Surat, November 6 IN JUNE 2025, Ramnik Sakhwala flew to Moscow, hoping to find a job. The diamond polishing industry in his hometown Surat had been battered by the effects of the war in Ukraine, and Ramnik had his wife and teenage son to support. ramnik sakhwala with his So when his close friend family Photo: sPeCiAl ARRAngement »cONtiNUed ON PaGe 2 business as Usual 24-hR AveRAge; PeRmissible 24-hR limit UnDeR nAtionAl Ambient AiR QUAlity stAnDARDs is 60 µg/m³ foR Pm2.5 AnD 100 µg/m³ foR Pm10 Pankaj Jiwani, also a diamond polisher in Surat, landed a job in Russia, Ramnik decided to tag along, in case he got lucky as well. It’s now almost four and a half months since Ramnik went “missing” in Russia. He last spoke with his family on June 24 this year. A member of the family approached the Surat police on Thursday (November 5). The strains that the RussiaUkraine war put on the diamond industry supply chain impacted the smaller units in Surat the most. Ramnik worked in one of those, and his employerhadslashedhismodest salary of Rs 35,000 by morethanhalf,membersofthe family said. Ramnik’s son Hemil was 16, and still in school. »cONtiNUed ON PaGe 2 Mumbai, November 6 THE SToCk market gained another 2% on Friday and extended its winning run to the seventh session on its way to postinga9%riseinoneweek— its best in six years — amid a globalartificialintelligence-led driven meltdown that extended from the US to Japan. Whilesomeofthesemarkets areonthevergeofenteringbear territory,Indianmarketslookrejuvenated after a disappointing year — the Nifty is now down only2%inthepastoneyearand ‘I am not against delimitation... but it has to be scrutinised’ Kerala cM V D SatheeSan -25.8% 17.6% akash mandal -20.2% 486 micron 323 Pm10 peak* -9.9% Pm2.5 peak* lreversal of fortunes 1-week change 10 5 0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 tsmC AIRqUALITyinDelhiplunged to near-severe levels on Friday as the 24-hour average air quality index (AqI) hit 382, the worst pre-Diwali air quality crisis in eight years. DatafromtheCentralPollution Control Board (CPCB) showed PM 2.5 concentrations peaking around 280 µg/m³ in 382 FIIs bring $4.6 bn this week, $1.1 bn on Friday alone sK hynix New Delhi, November 6 the 30-45 hours leading up to Diwali — the highest pre-festival particulate baseline recorded since 2019. Previous years have typicallyseenfineparticulatelevels drop to 50-150 µg/m³ during this window. As pollution levels rose sharply, the Commission for Air quality Management (CAqM) invoked Stage-III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the entire AQi National Capital Region (NCR) with immediate effect. The notification followed an emergency review by the CAqM SubCommittee on GRAP on Friday evening. The Sub-Committee noted thatunfavourableweatherconditions was leading to poor dispersion of pollutants, and warnedthatforecastspointedto air quality deteriorating further into the ‘Severe’ category over thecomingdays.|officialsevaluated pollution trends together withmeteorologicalprojections from the India Meteorological -11.3% sophiya mathew l toxiccapital nvidia Vehicle restrictions, hybrid mode until Class 5, work-from-home norms kick in -16.1% »cONtiNUed ON PaGe 2 Water sprinklers being used to curb air pollution in new delhi, Friday. The commission for air Quality management invoked stage-III of the Graded response action Plan in ncr as the capital’s average air Quality Index rose to 382 (Very Poor). AP relaTed rePorT, PaGe 2 Amid global AI meltdown, stocks jump 9% in a week, best run in 6 years samsung THE SUPREME Court on Friday reaffirmed its March 11 judgment which held that the creamy layer status of other Backward Classes (oBCs) cannot be decided solely on the basis of parental income. The Centre had sought “clarifications and appropriate directions” from the Supreme Court on the applicability of its March 11 judgment on the consideration of claims by oBC candidates who were selected in the Civil Services Examinations (CSE). Themattertracesitsoriginto a Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) letter of october 14, 2004, clarifying an official Memorandum (oM) of September 1993 on the creamy layer criterion for oBCs. The 1993 oM had excluded income from salary and agricultural sourcesfromtheincome/wealth test used to determine creamy layer status. The 2004 clarification said the salary income of employees in public sector undertakings(PSUs)andtheprivate sector would be a criterion. The 2004 clarification was not implemented effectively until 2014. It began to be applied rigorously from the CSE2015(correspondingtothe2016 batch). Since then, around 100 oBC candidates who cleared the CSE have found their claims being rejected by the DoPT on the creamy layer ground. Most of them are parties in different petitions 8.6% New Delhi, November 6 nifty ananthakrishnan G note: As PeR shARe PRiCes At 6:30 Pm ist, nov 6; source: bloombeRg is at an eight-month high, while the Sensex is at a nine-month high—asforeigninvestorshave come rushing in recent days. As a result, the rupee has also »cONtiNUed ON PaGe 2 The Big PicTure laWrence’S boyS page 16 pageS 18, 19 after sUPreme cOUrt sUGGestiON express special EC re-opens window for electors 8 calls between Delhi, Washington left out of draft rolls in 7 States/ UT in May-June: US lobbying firm divya a New Delhi, November 6 IN ITS latest filings under the US’sForeignAgentsRegistration Act(FARA),Americanlobbying firmSHWPartnersLLC,helmed by President Donald Trump’s aideJasonMiller,haslistedeight phone calls arranged between seniorWhiteHouseofficialsand the Indian government in May- June this year to discuss “IndiaUSrelations”aspartofits“political activities”. India signed Miller’s firm in April 2025, and the lobbying contract was renewed for another year in April this year. However, on June 23, the contract was terminated after Miller joined the Trump administration as a “special government employee”. The FARA requires “agents of foreign principals” who are engagedinpoliticalactivitiesto makeperiodicpublicdisclosure of their relationship, activities and financial compensation. According to SHW Partners LLC, in May, ahead of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to India, phone calls were arrangedbetweentheIndianside »cONtiNUed ON PaGe 2 Those marked absent, shifted, duplicate, dead can submit enumeration forms again damini Nath New Delhi, November 6 JUSTovERaweekaftertheSupreme Court gave the suggestion, the Election Commission on Friday re-opened the window for submitting enumeration forms for those electors who were left out of the draft electoral rolls in seven States/ Union Territory after being marked “absent, shifted, dead or duplicate” in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). WritingtotheChiefElectoral officers of Delhi, Maharashtra, »cONtiNUed ON PaGe 2 l4.51 crore deleted Delhi 47.56 lakh maharashtra 2.06 crore haryana 33.83 lakh Andhra Pradesh 44.89 lakh Jharkhand 43.61 lakh telangana 73.39 lakh nagaland 1.57 lakh l WITh 50 lITres oF IsoTonIc lIme WaTer PrePared on demandInG days, eVen hydraTIon Is noW meTIculously Planned Curries out, salads in: Colour-coded diet to prepare men’s hockey team for Olympics mihir Vasavda ing training days. For a team that has spent the last decade transforming THE TEA break is out, and so itself physically, tactically and are the heavy curries and gen- technically, the latest change is erous helpings of rice. happening at the dining table. Thefamiliarpost-mealslugAfter winning the Asian gishness is now a thing of the Games gold last month and the pastastheIndianmen'shockey Asian Champions Trophy team has acquired a taste for Thursday,Indiaarenowturning the salad bar. Hummus, avo- their attention to the 2028 Los cado, grilled meats, Angeles olympics, page 1 hung-curd desserts where they will chase and an assortment of a third successive milkshakes are also olympic medal. onthemenu.Evenhydrationis The journey from a team now meticulously planned, that struggled to match the with players told when and physical demands of elite how much to drink, and 50 hockeytoonethatcancompete litresofisotoniclimewaterpre- with the best has involved sevpared on particularly demand- eral interventions. Nutrition is Mumbai, November 6 anchor the latest, and perhaps one of the last missing pieces, according to coach Craig Fulton. “Idon’tthinkwehavedoneit (diet)properly(inthepast),”Fulton tells The Indian Express. “I think everyone now has bought into what the nutritional benefitsare.It’snotamagicwand.It’s just the consistency of doing it not just at SAI (during the training camp) but also at home.” Since May, nutritionist Mihira khopkar has been workingwiththeteam,introducinga structured fuelling programme that is as much about changing habits as changing menus. The idea is to ensure that the work doneonthetrainingpitchisnot undone during meal time. l morecarbsforheavytrainingload ■ red (lUNch / diNNer) Carbs: 100-150 gm; Protein: 40 gm heavy workload days; along with salad and protein, there is additional rice, dal and other carbs ■ OraNGe (lUNch / diNNer) Carbs: 50-100 gm; Protein: 40 gm moderate workload days; plate is balanced accordingly, with a little more pasta and potatoes ■ GreeN (lUNch / diNNer) Carbs: 50-60 gm; Protein: 40-50 gm Relatively light training day; meal includes raw, steamed/ stir-fried vegetables, hummus, nuts, seeds “your grit, your determination, pieces like training, re- covery can help you, of course. Butifyoudon’tputtherightfuel in,howfastcanyougo?Howfar canyougo?”sayskhopkar,who Ahmedabad wastheIndiancontingent’snutritionist at the Paris olympics. “Nutrition is like a silent intervention but an extremely powerful intervention.” The first change was to bring the kitchen into the team’s training programme. At the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Bengaluru centre, the food was already good, khopkar says, but it wasn’t customised to the demands of the players’ training schedules. Now, every Sunday, she shares a weekly menu with the chef, matching the food to the intensity of the sessions ahead. Theteam’strainingdaysare colour-coded. Red is the highest-load day, usually involving match-like situations. orange is a relatively lighter day, while green days are reserved for sessionssuchaspenalty-corner practice and gym work. The plates follow the same colour scheme, with carbohydrate intake increasing alongside the training load. A green plate is high in protein and lower in carbohydrates. It comes with raw, steamed and stir-fried vegetables, hummus, avocado or guacamole, nuts and seeds. Protein options range from grilledchickenandfishtolamb chopsandprawns.Thecooking is deliberately uncomplicated, with little oil, basic seasoning, »cONtiNUed ON PaGe 2